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Can eny one give me some information on what it would cost per. year for the up keep on a good 150 or152. I am looking to buy soon. Thank you Teddy Green

C'mon there Teddy,

The actual figure depends on:

1) where you live
2) how much you fly
3) your flying experience
4) your airplane (and it's past)
5) MOGAS or 100LL

I don't mean to sound harsh, but if you are asking this
particular question in this particular way, you need to
reconsider your readiness to own.

The C150-152 fuel system has been one of my biggest fixations during my tenure as club chief "student". The more I look into the fuel system, the more I find out I don't know. It's a simple enough system, and quite reliable really, but neverless the cause of more problems than other parts of the airplane. (Especially it's annoying custom of running dry when not replenished.)

Fuel gauges? They are basically useless. Use the tach time or a stopwatch to calculate how much fuel is left.

My latest venture into my fuel system education is looking at the aftermarket fuel flow instruments. They're not fool proof either, but with correct use they can provide a true idea of fuel use, minute by minute, range, and fuel required to the destination etc.

Wayne, Stephen, Gordon and other's who have installed these instruments are fans. I'll be digging into the issue and producing a typically over detailed article for the newsletter later this year.

As Steve Mayotte, it depends. Lots of variables at work here.

First: Your location. Some parts of the country labor rates are lower than others. Here in the North East my A&P charges $55/hr.
Other places may be more or less.

Second: How much you fly. The more you fly the more things will wear out, the more oil changes needed ect.
Most 150-152 owners AVERAGE 50 to 100 hrs a year.
If you don't fly enough things corrode and thing will wear out.

Third: Your flying experience. Lets face it as low time pilots we tend to do some stupid things and as we gain experience we learn some
of the things we shouldn't do.

Fourth: Your airplane and it's past. The first 150 was made in 1959 and the last 152 was made in 1985. that means that the oldest is 45 yrs old
and the newest is 19 yrs old. 152's seem to have more hrs on them than 150's even though they are newer. This, I think, is because
when Cessna stopped making them a lot of flight schools had them and had no replacements, as in the past, as they got older so they where
used as trainers longer.

I have had my 1980 152 for about 6 years now and every year is different as far as maintenance costs.
In the first year of ownership the annual inspection
cost about $1600.00 and the shop I had gone to wanted to change a cylinder for another $1200 just in parts.
I knew there was a problem with the shop when they couldn't tell me where the compression was leaking from w/o removing the cylinder first.
I have since gone to a different A&P.

Another year an AD on the oil pump needed to be complied with. About $65 in parts, but when the accessory cover is removed another AD says
you need to change the gear on the end of the crankshaft and check for flatness. Another $40 part.
Well 5 months and about $12000 later I was back in the air, but I did have an overhauled engine.

Another time the transponder gave up in the middle of Boston's Class 'B' airspace.
Was able to get it repaired for around $125.
Then my cabin cover blew off and broke the comm. antenna. $90

So, as you can see Steve was not trying to be "harsh" but I think he should have explained his answer more.

I try to figure about $2500 / year for Maintenance ( Tiedown fees, insurance & fuel not included)and if I have a good year
that I didn't have a lot of problems I use what's left to get another toy for the plane.( EGT/CHT gauge, Lowrance GPS, ect...)
Some may say that might be a bit high other may say too low.
A club member from Ohio, Greg Hopp, can give you his input on this. I know his first year was tough and he and his partner almost gave up.

I can tell you that even though the cost seems high owning a plane is one of the greatest feelings in the world.
Just BE PREPARED !!!

Just My $.02
Ron

Aw Geez, Ron. You've embarrassed me into spilling my guts.

Insurance for my 1977 150M was right around $600 per year.
Newbies will pay a bit more; greybeards a bit less.

My tie-down was $25 per month. At my place, hangers are at least $200 per month.
But someone has to die first.
No hail around here, outside is fine.
In the mid-west, a hanger is essential.

Insurance, storage, and taxes will be your fixed costs.
They are also pretty easy to figure up front.

If you have the dough, pay for the airplane and be done with it. If not, consider using a home equity loan (if you own a home). Anywho, if you borrow money, include the payment in your budget.

Ron is correct, most owners fly 50 to 100 hours per year.
I flew 200 in each of my first 2 years.

Direct operating costs (gas, oil, etc.) are also pretty easy to figure.

The big unknown, and Ron alluded to it, is maintenance.
There is just no way to know what will happen.

Ofcourse you can get a pre-purchase inspection.
Unfortunately, it is possible to do everything right
and still have everything go wrong.

You will also be interested in upgrades.
It doesn't matter what you want. It'll be expensive.

So what about some actual numbers.....

I owned my 150 for 705 days and flew it 407.3 hours.
(And had a GREAT time, BTW)

I burned up 2447.1 gallons of gas (6.01 GPH)

• Fuel $4494.58 (11.04/hr)
• Oil $657.51 (1.61/hr)
• Maintenance $18642.03 (45.77/hr)
• Upgrade $1048.56 (2.57/hr)
• Insurance $1328.99 (3.26/hr)
• Taxes $1287.00 (3.16/hr)
• Parking $1108.56 (2.72/hr)
• Total $28567.22 (70.14/hr)

And what about my 172M? That's running right around $63/hr
It was closer to $50, but I just loaded up on interior parts.

Wow 70 bucks an hour, that's more than I would have imagined but that 18k for maintenance really pushed up the rate eh? I assume that a big chunk of that was an engine overhaul?

Pretty scary, eh?

I did get a top overhaul, but that was actually fairly reasonable. I spent a fortune battling oil leaks.
Replacing the mags and wiring harness was expensive.
Death by a 1000 cuts, I'm afraid.

Part of the reason that I posted those numbers is help folks realize that owning isn't necessarily less expensive than renting.

Generally; if you fly more, your hourly rate will go down.
That's because the fixed costs are being spread out across a larger number of hours.

On any given day, your hourly rate may seem VERY low.
For example, let's say that you fly around some.
When you get back home, you dump in some gas.
Perhaps you pay $30 or $40 out of pocket.
Seems cheap.

The overhead of owning is always there; even if you choose to ignore it.

Guys that don't fly much may pay $100 (or more) per hour.
Seems crazy, eh? (Don't forget that owning has many positives.)

If you fly more, it'll cost more. That's always true.

I love owning. But I also try to publicize our dirty little secrets for the folks thinking about buying.

If you put together a spreadsheet that says [color:"green"]"you'll be flying for cheap"[/color]; you've made a mistake. Sorry.